Wound and therapy compress and dressing

ABSTRACT

A method of providing moisture therapy to a subject by applying a moist therapy compress against a treated body portion. The moist therapy compress includes a fluid-permeable shell, a flexible backing fastened to the shell to define an enclosure, and a hydrophilic zeolite fill granules loosely contained within the enclosure. The therapy compress is exposed to a source of moisture to cause absorption of water into the a hydrophilic zeolite, and the moisture is delivered from the hydrophilic zeolite through the fluid permeable shell to the treated body portion.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. Non-Provisional patentapplication Ser. No. 10/380,803, filed May 30, 2003, which is a U.S.National Phase of International Patent Application Ser. No.PCT/US2001/028908, filed on Sep. 17, 2001, which claims priority to andthe benefit of the filing date of U.S. Patent Application No.60/232,826, filed on Sep. 15, 2000, in the United States Patent andTrademark Office. Each application is hereby incorporated by referencein its entirety for all of its teachings.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates in general to moist-heat therapy wound 10dressings and compresses. More particularly, the present inventionrelates to a wound dressing or compress containing antimicrobial silverproviding a germ and microbial free environment within the article.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Modern wound dressings are designed to promote healing by providing amoist, warm or heated, wound environment. Warming a wound promoteshealing by increasing blood flow to the area. Moisture in a wound isalso very important to the healing process because it helps cells growand divide, and reduces scarring. Available modem dressings may bedampened or moistened and then heated, for example, by microwaveheating. Concurrent with the development of these dressings is theconcern regarding a potential for microbial colonization of the wound.Antibiotics are available to combat infections but many people areallergic to certain antibiotics and antibiotic usage can causegastrointestinal upset or other side effects. Further, excessive use ofantibiotics has been blamed for the occurrence of treatment-resistantbacteria.

Moist heat therapy applied by an area compress may also be beneficial tothe treatment of arthritic or sprained joints, strained muscles, backpain, rheumatoid arthritis, or in any treatment where heat might beapplied through or to the skin to promote circulation therein andthereunder. In such applications where no wound exudates contaminatetherapy materials, reusability of the compress is an attractivecost-efficient design feature. Bacterial presence can causedermatological problems to the treated area and further, a growingmicrobial colony in a reusable compress can cause the spread ofinfection through cross contamination when handled. This may represent aparticular threat to therapy patients, many of whom have persistent orslow-healing injuries or compromised immunity systems.

A growing strategy for reducing the potential for infection or bacterialgrowth in a wound or on skin tissue under moist heat therapy is theincorporation of noble metal antimicrobials into the therapeutic wounddressing. The most prevalent such metal in use is silver due to itsrelative lack of cytotoxic effects and wide spectrum of antimicrobialeffectiveness. Medical materials and instruments are available whichprovide the emission of silver metal or silver compounds to provide anantimicrobial effect. Such available dressings, once moistened, releasesilver into the surrounding liquid. The dressing thereby becomes aneffective antimicrobial barrier. The silver, however, is consumed andlost in the process. Such products are inherently not convenientlyreusable.

In both moist heat therapy wound dressings and compresses, bacterial andfungal growth can also cause unpleasant odor and unsightly discolorationwhich may adversely affect the morale of the patient. Thus there is aneed in general for dressings and compresses designed to maintainsterility therein and to also provide microbial free moisture.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention comprises a wound dressing or therapy compresshaving a granular fill material permanently loaded with at least oneantimicrobial agent. The at least one antimicrobial agent comprises aform of silver, which form of silver may comprise atomic silver or acomposition of silver. The dressing or compress thus comprises a fluidpermeable shell and a backing, each of which is attached to the other todefine a plurality of fill enclosures therebetween, and a fill materialenclosed within the respective enclosures. A fluid permeable outer covermay be provided to protect the dressing or compress. The dressing may beused to shelter and protect a wound while absorbing exudate, and mayalso provide and maintain a heated and/or moist environment to promotethe healing of the wound. The compress may be used to deliver moist heattherapy to an arthritic or sprained joint or strained muscle area.

The fill material may be prepared wet or moistened, or desiccated todryness to either deliver or absorb moisture as appropriate to thedesired treatment. The fill material absorbs or delivers this moisturethrough the lower shell. The shell is formed to be fluid-permeable,i.e., vapor-permeable and liquid- permeable, and is adapted to be placedin contact with a wound or tissue directly or through a vapor-permeableand liquid-permeable outer cover. The backing may also befluid-permeable, or non-permeable if so desired, so as to allow for therelease or retention of moisture as appropriate to the desiredtreatment.

The shell and backing are joined to form at least one, and preferably aplurality of enclosures there between. The enclosures may contain theloaded fill material. The presence of the antimicrobial agent within allor some of the fill material promotes a germ and microbial freeenvironment at and near the lower shell and within the dressing orcompress. The dressing or compress may be washable and reusable.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a partial side cross-sectioned view of the dressing orcompress of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is partial plan view of an exemplary hexagonal enclosure pattern.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of an alternate exemplary dressing or compresswith a hexagonal enclosure pattern.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a wrap compress with ties using the dressing orcompress of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to FIGS. 1-4, and as best illustrated in FIG. 1, adressing or compress 100 is illustrated having a lower shell 102 and aflexible upper backing 104 which are joined or otherwise fastened to oneanother to form a series of enclosures 106 there between. The enclosuresare provided for the containment and relatively uniform distribution ofa plurality of fill granules 108 placed therein. The enclosures may befashioned as filled pods which are draped from the backing. The shell102 forms the contact surface of the dressing or compress used to drapeor form the bottom of the filled enclosures which are to be placedagainst the tissue to be treated, and to conform to the shape of thetreatment area. The backing forms the smoother outer surface of thedressing or compress facing away from the treatment area.

The enclosures 106 may be defined as hexagons using patterned seams 110for local symmetry and efficient regular plane division. An illustrativehexagonal pattern 200 of enclosures 202 is illustrated in FIG. 2. Theenclosures might also be fashioned as circles, octagons, or of anydesired shape as may be appropriated for the desired treatment. Theenclosures may be selectively sized as appropriate to the application.Each hexagonal shaped enclosure 202 has a lengthwise dimension 204extending from a first corner to an opposite second corner thereof. Forexample, and not by way of limitation, this dimension may be in therange of from approximately one inch to approximately four inches inlength. Large treatment areas such as the human torso or appendages maybest be served with enclosures having a dimension 204 extendinglengthwise for approximately 4 inches. Highly contoured areas such asthe face may best be served with enclosures having a dimension 204 ofapproximately 1 inch in length.

An alternate dressing or compress 300 is illustrated in FIG. 3, having aplurality of hexagonal patterned enclosures 302. Each of the enclosuresmay also be formed as a channel-like rectangle, as illustrated in FIG.4. The embodiment of the dressing or compress 400 is formed to haveseveral channel enclosures 402 formed within a wrap compress havingsecuring ties 404. So constructed, the dressing or compress 400 may beprovided for the treatment of soreness or strains of the human back.

The size of the enclosures and overall dressing are selected to servethe desired treatment. Selected single sites for treatment such as theeye may best be treated using a single enclosure dressing or compressappropriately sized and shaped to rest comfortably in the eye hollow ofthe human face. The dressing or compress may be shaped as a regular orirregular polygon, any smooth closed curve, or any closed combination ofline segments and smooth curves. The invention is not limited toconstructions conforming to or only serving the human body. Theinvention provides a potentially useful treatment for the ailments ofmammals and any animals benefiting from the healing properties ofmoisture and/or heat therapy.

A fluid-permeable, i.e., a vapor-permeable and/or a liquid-permeableprotective outer cover (not illustrated) may be provided to encompassthe compress. This may be preferable to limit contamination of thedressing or compress. For the treatment of open wounds, an uncovereddisposable dressing (not illustrated) may be preferred for optimalformable contact with, and healing of, the exposed tissues.

The fill contained within the enclosure or enclosures may comprise asynthetic porous crystalline granular aluminosilicate zeolite, commonlyused as a molecular sieve material, or other substances with similarproperties. The fill material may further comprise other inert additivesand physical matrices without affecting the antimicrobial and hydrousefficacies of the fill. Silver loading of the fill may be attained bythe process of ion-exchange, as known. In this process, a solutioncontaining atomic silver or a composition of silver bathes, or is passedthrough, a bed of the fill granules 108 (FIG. 1). An ion-exchange columnmethod, as known in the art, may be performed in which an aqueoussolution containing atomic silver or a composition of silver may bepassed through a column bed of the fill granules, and the elutedsolution may again be passed through the bed or may receive additionalsilver and then be again passed through the bed.

Various ion-exchange schedules known in the art may be applied toproduce retention of the silver. The final content by weight of theatomic silver or silver composition may be as high as twenty percent ofthe final loaded fill granules. The loaded fill granules produced byion-exchange will exhibit high retention of the silver even undersubsequent exposure to fluids and microwave irradiation. The fillgranules may comprise a blend of both loaded and unloaded zeolite or asubstance retaining silver. The presence of the atomic silver or silvercomposition will not interfere with the useful properties of the fillgranules such as the moisture desorption and adsorption properties whichmay be desirable in the use of the dressing or compress. The inherenthydrophilic nature of the zeolite provides that a substantial watercontent is available therein by absorption from the atmosphere. Thewater so absorbed may be sufficient, or may be supplemented by manuallyadded water, for providing the microwave responsive water content of thedressing or compress. The compositions of silver used may include butare not limited to, silver compounds, and silver salts such as silverchloride and silver nitrate.

The presence of the silver within the fill granules contained in theenclosure of the invention provides anti-microbial properties to thedressing or compress. The ion-exchange loaded fill granules will retainthe silver despite microwave heating as may be required in the use ofthe dressing or compress, which prevents the release of silver into atreated wound if the invention is used as a dressing. Further, theretention of the silver within the fill granules provides assuredantimicrobial performance in a reusable and potentially washable, if sodesired, moist heat therapy compress.

In the described embodiments of the invention, the lower shell and theupper backing are each constructed of materials known in the art. Eachmay therefore be comprised of multilayered laminates, for example, withpore sizes selectable to meet the moisture transmission and retentionproperties desired for the specific treatment sought. The dressing orcompress is adapted to be placed and to remain in intimate contact withthe area to be treated to maintain a heated and/or moist environmentthereabout. Dressing or compress constructions using woven textiles ofnatural fibers have been found to have limited spatial conformance tothe various shapes, dimples, wrinkles and joints offered by the humanbody, although these materials may be used if so desired.

Accordingly, preferred dressing or compress constructions will useformable woven and non-woven synthetic materials or combinations thereofwhich may include, but are not limited to, synthetic olefin, polyester,urethane, and nylon. The shell and the backing may be fastened togetheracross the area of the dressing or compress with a fill material, thefill granules 108, received there between. The shell and the backing maybe fastened to one another by methods which may include, but are notlimited to, adhesive attachment, RF welding, ultra-sonic attachment,sewing, or patterned heat application using a template or forming die toform a seal. To provide for the secure placement of the dressing orcompress, peripheral or attachment fastening devices may be includedwhich may comprise the desired number of Velcro® fasteners, adhesives,high tactility polymer materials, and/or material ties.

Throughout the construction of the dressing or compress, attention andcare is taken in the selection of materials regarding thermal responseto microwave heating. For design simplicity, all synthetic, microwavenon-responsive materials may be selected to provide that the fill and/orwater content of a moistened dressing or compress provide the onlysubstantial thermal response to microwave irradiation.

Although several embodiments of the invention have been disclosed in theforegoing specification, it is understood by those skilled in the artthat many modifications and other embodiments of the invention will cometo mind to which the invention pertains, having the benefit of theteaching presented in the foregoing description and associated drawings.It is thus understood that the invention is not limited to the specificembodiments disclosed hereinabove, and that many modifications and otherembodiments are intended to be included within the scope of theinvention. Moreover, although specific terms are employed herein, theyare used only in a generic and descriptive sense, and not for thepurposes of limiting the described invention. The words “a,” “an,” or“the” can mean one or more, depending upon the context in which thewords are used hereinabove.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of providing moisture therapy to asubject, said method comprising: providing a therapy compress comprisinga fluid-permeable shell, a flexible backing fastened to the shell todefine at least one enclosure therebetween, and a plurality of fillgranules loosely contained within the at least one enclosure, the fillgranules comprising a hydrophilic zeolite; exposing the therapy compressto a source of moisture to cause absorption of water into thehydrophilic zeolite; and applying the moist therapy compress to thesubject with the fluid permeable shell against a treated body portion ofthe subject to deliver moisture from the hydrophilic zeolite through thefluid permeable shell to the treated body portion of the subject.
 2. Themethod of providing moisture therapy of claim 1, further comprisingheating the therapy compress before application to the subject.
 3. Amethod of providing heat therapy to a subject, said method comprising:providing a therapy compress comprising a fluid-permeable shell, aflexible backing fastened to the shell to define at least one enclosuretherebetween, and a plurality of fill granules loosely contained withinthe at least one enclosure, the fill granules comprising a hydrophiliczeolite; heating the therapy compress; and applying the heated therapycompress to the subject with the fluid permeable shell against a treatedbody portion of the subject to deliver heat treatment to the treatedbody portion of the subject.
 4. The method of providing heat therapy ofclaim 3, further comprising exposing the therapy compress to a source ofmoisture to cause absorption of water into the hydrophilic zeolite, anddelivering moisture from the hydrophilic zeolite through the fluidpermeable shell to the treated body portion of the subject.